In this story by Charlotte Gilman, a widow faces pressure from three sides. Her married children want her to come and live with them, and the man who holds a mortgage over her large family home wants to marry her. She doesn’t want to move or remarry, doesn’t have the means to repay the mortgage, and has three Thanksgivings to make a decision or find the money. In helping five hundred other women, she builds a new life and solves the problem. Themes include gender expectations, financial independence, self-sufficiency, entrepreneurship, community.
Original Text / PDF (5,450 words)